February 10, 2012
Securities and Exchange Comm.
Dear Securities and Exchange Comm.,
I am writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending.
The Citizens United decision makes it possible for Big Business to buy our elections and therefore our government. This is clearly contrary to the public good. America decided long ago that expanding voting rights to the greatest number of citizens (not just white male property owners) was beneficial. But permitting corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money in secret essentially reverses the benefit of a broad vote base. We all know that advertising is now a major factor in elections. The more money goes into a campaign, the more likely that candidate is to be elected. The groups with the most money--i.e., the 1% and the big corporations--if left free to buy elections, will do so, including those which are owned by foreign interests.
Both shareholders and the public must be fully informed about corporate political spending and which candidates it is being used to promote or attack. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC’s web site.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Buckley